Publishing Vocabulary
From “Preliminary Copy-Editing, Design and Specimen Pages¨ in Butcher’s Copy-Editing
Before going any further, we should explain the sense in which certain words are being used both in this chapter and in the rest of the book:
- folio: a sheet of typescript
- leaf: two pages that back on to one another - a ‘recto´ (right-hand page) and its ‘verso´ (left-hand page) – for example pp. 117-18 of this book
- page: a page of a proof or a finished book or journal, for example p. 95 of this book. The distinction ‘page´ and ‘folio´ is a useful one, because a page and a folio will contain a different amount of material: for example an index that is ten A4 folios long will (if it is typed double-spaced and single column as it should be) occupy only two or three pages when it is printed
- part: a group of related chapters with a part number or title or both
- preliminary brief (sometimes called copy-editorial brief): a brief drawn up by the copy-editor for the designer (and possibly typesetter) listing the elements in the book that might be relevant to design
- section: a subdivision of a chapter
- subheading: a heading to a section of a chapter, a bibliography or an appendix. The other kinds of headings are called part headings, chapter headings, table headings and running heads. A running head – also called a headline or pagehead – is the heading that appears at the top of every page (with some exceptions) in most non-fiction books and journals and some novels (see section 9.1).
- typescript: originally the author’s typed copy to be typeset; now also means the hard copy or printout produced from the author’s electronic files
- typographical/design composition specification: lists typefaces and sizes, style for headings, tables and other features of the book.
This glossary is sure to help us understand what a preliminary brief, as noted in 20240908151405-Copy-Editor_Preliminary_Brief, is comprised of as well as what a typescript is, noted likewise.
preliminary_brief copy-editorial_brief running_head part_heading chapter_heading table_heading copy-editing typography typographical_specification typographical_composition_specification design_composition_specification graphic_design writing editing editor publishing
bibliography
- “Preliminary Copy-Editing, Design and Specimen Pages.” In Butcher’s Copy-Editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Copy-Editors and Proofreaders, 4th ed., 17–27. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006.